1. Zoot Suit examines the life and conviction of Henry Reyna, a Mexican-American arrested for a murder at Sleepy Lagoon in August 1942. The play covers the next three years, as Henry and his 38th street “gang members” deal with racial discrimination and the limits of the United States justice system during World War II. Henry must confront his false imprisonment with an eventual appeal, but struggles with his identity as an “American” and a “Pachucho”.
2. The intrusion would be the “guilty” conviction at then end of Act 1. This action increases the stakes of Henry’s actions, brings in the idea of the assistance committee, and forces Henry to confront his internal conflict over the man he chooses to be. This is exemplified in his stay in solitary, where he is left alone other than with “The Pachuco”. This is also the last event before the Zoot Suit Riots after their imprisonment, which provide the historical background for Zoot Suit.
3. This is the day that Henry Reynas is wrongly convicted of murder at Sleepy Lagoon, and serves as the apex of Mexican-American racial tensions at the start of World War II.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrustion.)
What person did Henry “choose” to be – the Pachuco or the family man?
Do Della and Henry ever overcome “all that has happened”?
Who really is “The Pachuco”? Is he “real” to Henry? Is he Henry?
5. Henry’s initial wants are to serve in the American Navy and to have a successful relationship with Della. One of the first actions he takes is to be alone with her at Lovers Lane before eventually going to Sleepy Lagoon, and he discusses how much he cares about her. However, these actions are halted following his arrest for the murder at Sleepy Lagoon. These could be interpreted as “me against other individuals” (being that the Downey Gang interrupts his time with Della) and “me against society” (as he is being pinned for a murder based on his ethnicity and facing mob media mentality). As Henry spends time in jail, he confronts Alice on the basis of that his future is hopeless and sealed because of the racial stereotype that is placed upon him. Henry views his obstacles as “me against fate”, and this mirrors what the Judge and Press feel. The vocal media decry these men as “naturally violent” and that crime is a part of their identity. Subjugating them to criminal punishment would be good either way, as Henry and his friends would have eventually committed a crime. Henry’s ultimate fate – falling into cyclical crime and drug abuse – could be seen also as a “me against society”. It is his marginalization and experience with ethnic hysteria that places him here.
6. One of the most theatrical moments in Zoot Suit would be the attack on the Pachuco during the actual Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. He is chased down by marines and forcibly stripped and beaten, but rises in an “Aztec loincloth” and disappears into the stage background, leaving Henry all alone and serving as his only experience of the riots himself. This scene is one of the most visceral in terms of showing what actually occurred during the Riots (that is, the forced stripping and beatings) but ends with the Pachuco’s transformation into an Aztec god or leader. The “Aztec” illusions are based on press releases that paint Mexican-Americans or Chicanos as primitive and violent, but the Pachuco’s transformation ilicits the imagery as a powerful cultural claim. The Pachucho, just like the Aztec warrior, are parts of Henry’s identity and facets of his anger that he embodies with these figures. The Aztec-Pachucho transformation is also a play on what the press want Henry to see himself as, and hope that he plays into their stereotype and assumptions in order to continue their sensationalism.
Another theatrical moment that stood out to me is the finale scene, where Henry’s “initial fate” is revealed that he returned to jail several times, suffered from drug abuse, and ultimately died in a bar within thirty years. The Pachuco interrupts and says that there are several ways to “read Henry’s fate”. Several characters reiterate Henry’s fate as serving in Korea and dying (Rudy), settling down with Della and having a family (Alice), or essentially living forever (The Pachuco). This scene, I think, makes Henry an universal Mexican-American. He was an ordinary man with a conviction thrust upon him, and ideally, could have chosen to pursue any of these paths. These paths may also mirror what happened to the characters who spoke them – Rudy serving again and dying for his country and Alice eventually getting married and settling down. The idea that Henry Reyna “still lives” may reference the pervasive racism that Mexican-Americans still suffer, and that the Henry Reynas of the world are still present in the current justice system. Henry could also embody the Chicano spirit as a whole, which lives on and builds off of its troubled history on the United States.
7. The zoot suit itself is the most consistent image throughout the play and embodies the racialization of physical attributes or clothing choices. In the trial, George points out that the arrested men have not been allowed to shower or change, but the Judge deems it necessary because their “identification” depends upon their appearance and that it is an accurate reflection of their character. Regardless of the fact that the zoot suit was a popular way of dressing for multiple ethnicities, it comes to symbolize a “Mexican crime wave” that “grapples Los Angeles”. The zoot suit also serves as a marker for who marines and sailors choose to beat during the Riots, as they label their victims “zooters”. The zoot suit is a point of contention for many young Mexican-American men, visible in Rudy’s character. Rudy borrows Henry’s zoot suit after his sentencing and is beat because he is wearing it.
The Pachuco himself could be a type of image, or at least a visible personification of an idea. The Pachuco represents the conflicting internal identity that Henry faces throughout the play and may serve as an exaggerated stereotype reflected by the mass media at the time. The Pachuco, though not really representative of Henry himself, is “real” in the sense that the public has created him as a representative of all Mexican-American men. The Pachuco could also be an image symbolizing parts of Mexican-American culture, albeit some negative and violent aspects like the Aztec or gangster.
Another image could be the choice of language and the balance of bilingualism throughout the play. The Pachucos create their own type of pidgin Spanish and English, and serve as an image to their mixed cultural identities. These Mexican-American men are making efforts to claim an American identity while still holding to their cultural roots, contrary to their parental generation. This transnational identity, however, is also what makes them targets of White Californians who feel that they are anti-American and claim that this violence is necessary to “support the war effort”.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Zoot Suit.
Minorities and the shortcomings of the justice system
Cyclical violence and marginalization
Family and love
Conflicting ideas of identity
Yellow Journalism and Stereotyping
War as a rationale for uncontrolled violence
Fate – struggling between independent choice and the limited options that society allows
Race and Ethnicity
9. One commentary on family that Zoot Suit establishes is the “self-made” or chosen families that inhabit the barrios of Los Angeles in the 1940s, including those that take the form of street gangs. These are essentially “family groups” for young Mexican-Americans searching for their identities in a time of war and cultural assimilation, and contrasts heavily from their typically conservative and isolated parents and the older generation. One example of this conflict in Zoot Suit is visible even in small things like the matter of dress and the language to speak, as Henry’s father questions “when this family stopped speaking Spanish at home”. These self-made families also brought in multiple ethnicities, representative of Tommy who is not any blood relative of the other 39th Street men, but sees himself as just as much of a Pachuco as the rest of them. These gang families also protect one another, albeit requiring extreme measures of violence in some cases, and often protect one another. Henry represents the bridge between the gang family and the biological family with his protection of Rudy. Henry refuses to name Rudy as being present at Sleepy Lagoon because he is his brother and had his whole life ahead of him. However, this gang family often contradicts the “family man” that Della desires for Henry to be. She pleads with him to settle down and “forget all of this”, but the gang family is as much of Henry’s identity as any biological family would be.
1. Zoot Suit examines the life and conviction of Henry Reyna, a Mexican-American arrested for a murder at Sleepy Lagoon in August 1942. The play covers the next three years, as Henry and his 38th street “gang members” deal with racial discrimination and the limits of the United States justice system during World War II. Henry must confront his false imprisonment with an eventual appeal, but struggles with his identity as an “American” and a “Pachucho”.
2. The intrusion would be the “guilty” conviction at then end of Act 1. This action increases the stakes of Henry’s actions, brings in the idea of the assistance committee, and forces Henry to confront his internal conflict over the man he chooses to be. This is exemplified in his stay in solitary, where he is left alone other than with “The Pachuco”. This is also the last event before the Zoot Suit Riots after their imprisonment, which provide the historical background for Zoot Suit.
3. This is the day that Henry Reynas is wrongly convicted of murder at Sleepy Lagoon, and serves as the apex of Mexican-American racial tensions at the start of World War II.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrustion.)
5. Henry’s initial wants are to serve in the American Navy and to have a successful relationship with Della. One of the first actions he takes is to be alone with her at Lovers Lane before eventually going to Sleepy Lagoon, and he discusses how much he cares about her. However, these actions are halted following his arrest for the murder at Sleepy Lagoon. These could be interpreted as “me against other individuals” (being that the Downey Gang interrupts his time with Della) and “me against society” (as he is being pinned for a murder based on his ethnicity and facing mob media mentality). As Henry spends time in jail, he confronts Alice on the basis of that his future is hopeless and sealed because of the racial stereotype that is placed upon him. Henry views his obstacles as “me against fate”, and this mirrors what the Judge and Press feel. The vocal media decry these men as “naturally violent” and that crime is a part of their identity. Subjugating them to criminal punishment would be good either way, as Henry and his friends would have eventually committed a crime. Henry’s ultimate fate – falling into cyclical crime and drug abuse – could be seen also as a “me against society”. It is his marginalization and experience with ethnic hysteria that places him here.
6. One of the most theatrical moments in Zoot Suit would be the attack on the Pachuco during the actual Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. He is chased down by marines and forcibly stripped and beaten, but rises in an “Aztec loincloth” and disappears into the stage background, leaving Henry all alone and serving as his only experience of the riots himself. This scene is one of the most visceral in terms of showing what actually occurred during the Riots (that is, the forced stripping and beatings) but ends with the Pachuco’s transformation into an Aztec god or leader. The “Aztec” illusions are based on press releases that paint Mexican-Americans or Chicanos as primitive and violent, but the Pachuco’s transformation ilicits the imagery as a powerful cultural claim. The Pachucho, just like the Aztec warrior, are parts of Henry’s identity and facets of his anger that he embodies with these figures. The Aztec-Pachucho transformation is also a play on what the press want Henry to see himself as, and hope that he plays into their stereotype and assumptions in order to continue their sensationalism.
Another theatrical moment that stood out to me is the finale scene, where Henry’s “initial fate” is revealed that he returned to jail several times, suffered from drug abuse, and ultimately died in a bar within thirty years. The Pachuco interrupts and says that there are several ways to “read Henry’s fate”. Several characters reiterate Henry’s fate as serving in Korea and dying (Rudy), settling down with Della and having a family (Alice), or essentially living forever (The Pachuco). This scene, I think, makes Henry an universal Mexican-American. He was an ordinary man with a conviction thrust upon him, and ideally, could have chosen to pursue any of these paths. These paths may also mirror what happened to the characters who spoke them – Rudy serving again and dying for his country and Alice eventually getting married and settling down. The idea that Henry Reyna “still lives” may reference the pervasive racism that Mexican-Americans still suffer, and that the Henry Reynas of the world are still present in the current justice system. Henry could also embody the Chicano spirit as a whole, which lives on and builds off of its troubled history on the United States.
7. The zoot suit itself is the most consistent image throughout the play and embodies the racialization of physical attributes or clothing choices. In the trial, George points out that the arrested men have not been allowed to shower or change, but the Judge deems it necessary because their “identification” depends upon their appearance and that it is an accurate reflection of their character. Regardless of the fact that the zoot suit was a popular way of dressing for multiple ethnicities, it comes to symbolize a “Mexican crime wave” that “grapples Los Angeles”. The zoot suit also serves as a marker for who marines and sailors choose to beat during the Riots, as they label their victims “zooters”. The zoot suit is a point of contention for many young Mexican-American men, visible in Rudy’s character. Rudy borrows Henry’s zoot suit after his sentencing and is beat because he is wearing it.
The Pachuco himself could be a type of image, or at least a visible personification of an idea. The Pachuco represents the conflicting internal identity that Henry faces throughout the play and may serve as an exaggerated stereotype reflected by the mass media at the time. The Pachuco, though not really representative of Henry himself, is “real” in the sense that the public has created him as a representative of all Mexican-American men. The Pachuco could also be an image symbolizing parts of Mexican-American culture, albeit some negative and violent aspects like the Aztec or gangster.
Another image could be the choice of language and the balance of bilingualism throughout the play. The Pachucos create their own type of pidgin Spanish and English, and serve as an image to their mixed cultural identities. These Mexican-American men are making efforts to claim an American identity while still holding to their cultural roots, contrary to their parental generation. This transnational identity, however, is also what makes them targets of White Californians who feel that they are anti-American and claim that this violence is necessary to “support the war effort”.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Zoot Suit.
9. One commentary on family that Zoot Suit establishes is the “self-made” or chosen families that inhabit the barrios of Los Angeles in the 1940s, including those that take the form of street gangs. These are essentially “family groups” for young Mexican-Americans searching for their identities in a time of war and cultural assimilation, and contrasts heavily from their typically conservative and isolated parents and the older generation. One example of this conflict in Zoot Suit is visible even in small things like the matter of dress and the language to speak, as Henry’s father questions “when this family stopped speaking Spanish at home”. These self-made families also brought in multiple ethnicities, representative of Tommy who is not any blood relative of the other 39th Street men, but sees himself as just as much of a Pachuco as the rest of them. These gang families also protect one another, albeit requiring extreme measures of violence in some cases, and often protect one another. Henry represents the bridge between the gang family and the biological family with his protection of Rudy. Henry refuses to name Rudy as being present at Sleepy Lagoon because he is his brother and had his whole life ahead of him. However, this gang family often contradicts the “family man” that Della desires for Henry to be. She pleads with him to settle down and “forget all of this”, but the gang family is as much of Henry’s identity as any biological family would be.